Clement means merciful, or mild in weather. Clement weather, a clement judge, more clement conditions.
The weather sense is the one still in use, and it is formal even there. The mercy sense survives chiefly in the noun clemency and in the names of several popes, and clement is where inclement, meaning harsh weather, comes from.
1adjectiveclementMerciful, or mild in weather.
“We hoped for clement weather for our picnic, but it poured.”
clement is a quality.
Latin clemens means merciful or mild, of uncertain further origin.
Proto-Indo-European
*ḱlew-
Latin
clēmēns — merciful
English, today
clement
From Old French -, from Latin clēmēns (“merciful”). Equivalent to clīnō + participial suffix -menos. [https://www.etymonline.com/word/clemency]
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA